"I will see to the affairs of the city, and of the land," the Hierophant replies.
Zangua glances back at Felor. The mountain man seems lost in prayer.
The moments and hours that follow pass strangely. Your last sight of the Hierophant is of him leading a procession of sorts to the Broken Tower, accompanied by many of the witnesses and participants of the battle on the Isle. For whatever reason, each of you feels adverse to joining in.
The next morning you all awaken at an inn in the Commercial District with little recollection of how or when you got there. Already, however, there is news. Word has quickly spread that the Cron family was found by a gang of rustics outside the city walls, in full disguise, the Innocent among them. The rustics had seen the conflagrations and the descent of the dragon, and when they realized the House of Cron was attempting to abandon the city and break their sacred oaths, they tore them apart, sparing no mercy for the Innocent nor any other.
By noontime talk abounds that two tall pillars have been erected in the Trigon: one bearing the head of the wizard Gavrel Gorham, the other bearing the head of the last Innocent of Hazard.
On the south side of the city there is wreckage to clean, damage to mend, wounds to heal and bodies to bury. The city gates and waterways are sealed; no-one is allowed to enter or leave. By sunset, the word on the street is that the patriarchs of the Houses of Gahmez and Ibetbal, among others, have arrived at the Temple of Aitas to offer sacrifice and acknowledge Frater Equamo Cola, the former Hierophant of Hazard, as city's one and true King.
For the Hazardites, there is little to be said of Gavrel Gorham and the Six-Pronged Crown: just another mad wizard who brought deviltry and ruin upon innocents for his own glory. On the other hand, fulsome praise is given to the Hierophant who turned back the devils with the force of his faith and intimidated a mighty dragon into retreating.
A story also takes quick hold regarding the sword-maiden Lendras, companion to the Hierophant, who destroyed the Black Egg brought by the devils from beyond the stars to devour all the souls in Hazard, heroically giving her life in the effort and thus fulfilling the last prophecy of Mirza Horgul and justifying the city's transition back to kingship.
That night, as a pair of laborers set to work putting to rights the destruction of the Old Temple District, one shared with the other the rumor that a remnant of the band of mercenaries known as the Companions of Edvers Kells had been present for the battle on the Isle. As he told his workmate of the doughty warrior who had taken to the air with an incredible flying leap to strike off the wizard's head, he picked up another shard of iron and set it in his wheelbarrow. It was an unusual piece, curved and knotted. He was curious where it had come from -- the Shrine of Culsu nearby, or what was left of it, had no significant ironworks that he could recall.
"It wasn't the leaping axeman, it was the archer. All who were there saw it. Shot him right out of the sky."
"It was not, I have it direct from one who was there. Now she said it was the northman's goddess who aided him, carried him aloft so he could strike the mortal blow. Of course that's fanciful, but the leaping part is true. Many saw it."
"Some say he flew like a bird, same as the wizard," the other workman scoffs. He watches the other pick up another chunk of iron. "That's a strange metal," he observes. "Looks like iron, but -- something different about it."
"Temples get offerings of strange metal all the time. It's scrap now."
"You think it'll melt proper?"
"It's just iron," says the other, tossing it into the wheelbarrow. "It'll melt."
THE END.
This concludes The Secret History of Bload. If you would like to share any questions, observations, or updates on what your character would want to do with the rest of their lives, please join me in the Postgame thread. Thank you all so much for participating in this campaign.
